At first glance,
today’s Gospel could look as if Jesus is asking his disciples to become
doormats - turning the other cheek - or handing over a tunic when
someone asks for a cloak.

However, Jesus was not
a doormat and it is very unlikely that he intended his disciples to be.

Rather he is offering
a way of life in which the poor and powerless can act from a position of
strength - to take an initiative which confronts their opponent and
which leaves the wrong where it belongs. Their dignity does not depend
on how others treat them.

He does not suggest
that this is an easy option but a radical alternative - something beyond
what “even sinners” do. It is very easy to be kind to those who are nice
to us - and to love those who love us. The challenge for Christians is
to go further.

Among Jesus’ own
disciples there were strong characters and the potential for disastrous
relationships. Simon the Zealot was violently opposed to Roman
occupation - Matthew had made a living as a tax-collector in effect
collaborating with the Romans.

In the early Church at
Philippi, Luke would have met a community in which a wealthy woman
called Lydia met and worshipped on equal terms with dockers from the
local port.

Christian communities
are never uniform - people hold different political views - or have
strong opinions - belong to different social groups and so on. And yet,
week by week, we gather to worship God and, hopefully, to build up the
Body of Christ in our own community and the locality in which we live.

To do this, we have to
employ much of the teaching in today’s Gospel, cultivating qualities of
compassion, forbearance and forgiveness. We have to go beyond what might
be expected in a club or other organisation - being willing to sacrifice
something of our own self-interest in order to create harmony.

Such a community is a
powerful witness to the world and will attract others to us. Yes, we may
find ourselves exploited from time to time - but, as Jesus says, God is
never outdone in generosity - and what we give we will receive back in
even greater abundance.